At that moment, Aizen also paused his steps, frowning as he observed the scene unfolding before him. He considered stepping in to smooth things over, what was meant to boost Natsuro's reputation had instead stirred up unwanted trouble for him.
Aizen didn't particularly care about the consequences for Natsuro, but if his own reputation were affected, that would be problematic, at least for now.
However, before he could speak, Natsuro glanced at the student in front of him, then looked toward the other students nearby who seemed ready to act.
He could understand their thoughts. They probably knew full well that someone personally acknowledged by Aizen likely possessed power they couldn't handle.
But even so, for the sake of their future, they were willing to take the gamble.
Unfortunately for them, the person they had chosen to challenge was him. While he understood their motives, that didn't mean he would sympathize with them.
The weak must have the resolve of the weak. If he hadn't possessed this power, he too would have been subject to endless ridicule.
"I accept your challenge. Also…" Natsuro swept his gaze over the crowd and said, "Anyone else thinking like him, trying to prove yourself, come up now."
After he spoke, the hesitant students looked around at each other before ultimately stepping forward. They couldn't pass up this opportunity. Even if the first person failed, perhaps they could succeed when Natsuro was exhausted.
"No one else?" Natsuro asked again, scanning the area.
"That's enough! Let's just get started already!" the first challenger said impatiently.
"Heh, don't rush." Natsuro suddenly smiled and raised his sheathed Zanpakutō, Meikyō Shisui, pointing it toward the group. "You all come at once, it'll save me time."
Immediately, the students who had stepped forward looked visibly shaken.
Even Renji and the others behind Aizen were startled. Natsuro was being far too arrogant.
Renji had challenged him a few times in the past, and every time, he was basically one-shotted. He knew just how terrifying Natsuro's strength really was.
But this time, there were dozens of graduates. If they all attacked together, surely something might go wrong.
Predictably, the lead student yelled angrily, "Are you looking down on us?!"
"If you come at me one by one, none of you stand a chance," Natsuro said casually as he smoothed a wrinkle in his clothing.
The lead student hesitated. As Natsuro said, he knew his chances were slim. But still, would Aizen acknowledge him if they attacked all at once?
At that moment, Aizen examined Natsuro's Zanpakutō. Being quite familiar with asauchi (unnamed swords), he instantly noticed the length of Natsuro's Meikyō Shisui was off.
That meant it had undergone Shikai, and not just any Shikai, but a constant-release type.
Aizen smiled. Since Natsuro had said as much, he might as well escalate the situation.
"In that case," Aizen announced, "if anyone can defeat Natsuro-kun in the upcoming challenge, those who perform exceptionally will be allowed to join the 5th Division."
Everyone froze in shock.
Then, even more students stepped forward, their eyes burning with hope, Natsuro now seemed like their ticket into the 5th Division.
Natsuro looked at Aizen and gave a subtle nod. He had to admit, Aizen's move made things simpler.
Following Aizen's command, the other students spread out to clear the space for the duel.
Nearby, several captains watched the scene with great interest. It had been a while since they'd seen such an entertaining graduation test, they were eager to see what would happen next.
"Sorry about this, but I have to get into the 5th Division!" the first challenger said. Though he apologized in words, his grin said otherwise.
In his mind, victory was assured. No matter how strong Natsuro was, there was no way he could handle this many opponents.
Besides, Aizen had already promised to take in anyone who beat Natsuro, if they won, as the first one to challenge him, his spot in the 5th Division was practically guaranteed.
"No need to apologize," Natsuro grinned back, baring his teeth. "Because this'll be over quickly."
He gripped the hilt of Meikyō Shisui with both hands. It was time for this sword, whose true form only it had seen, to reveal itself to the world.
"Third Form: Ame no Setsudan (Rain of Severance)!"
In the next instant, his figure vanished before everyone's eyes.
Even Aizen and the other captains were visibly surprised, this level of Shunpo was fast.
Then, as the students searched for Natsuro's form, they noticed something strange, rain seemed to begin falling from the clear sky.
But just a moment ago, wasn't it a bright sunny day?
"Ah!!"
As the light rain fell, screams started to erupt one after another.
The lead student looked around in shock as his comrades collapsed all around him. He noticed some of the raindrops shimmered with spiritual energy.
Within each droplet, was a sword slash?!
He quickly shouted out his discovery, but…
Even after explaining, it made no difference. No one could stop the rain.
Using their Zanpakutō? Their swordsmanship couldn't possibly block attacks that dense.
Using Kidō?
Even a Hado #31: Shakkahō (Red Fire Cannon) was completely erased by the rain.
There was no way to resist, one needed overwhelming swordsmanship or spiritual pressure to withstand this. And none of them had it.
In this invisible storm of blades, they were picked off one by one. Fear twisted the faces of the students as they tried to flee from the rain's reach.
But each time someone tried to run, the raindrops above them would glow faintly, and before their foot even landed they collapsed to the ground, screaming in pain.
The rain didn't last long, because the students fell so fast. Within moments, only one person remained standing, the first one who had stepped forward.
Not because he was particularly strong, but because, it seemed, the sharper strikes had deliberately avoided his position.
Now, in his wide-eyed daze, he finally saw Natsuro again, standing amidst the groaning, injured students on the ground, head tilted as he looked back at him.
"You're the last one."
He could almost hear Natsuro's voice like a devil whispering in his ear.
"You were wrong about one thing," Natsuro said, his gaze fixed on the stunned student. "That rain didn't contain my sword slashes, every single raindrop was a slash."
"And also… you've already lost." With that, Natsuro turned and walked back toward the 4th Division's side, clearly unwilling to even bother finishing the fight.
"Every drop was a slash?" The student was dumbfounded. Then he looked down at himself, he had been hit by a few drops.
In the next moment, under his wide eyes, every spot that had been touched by rain began to crack open.
Blood filled his vision. Pain tore through his nerves.
"AAAGHHHH!!!"
And just like that, the most agonizing, horrifying scream of the entire battle, belonging to the most severely injured person, was born.
There was no way Natsuro would let the instigator of all this off the hook.
The "Third Form: Zandanshi no Ame (Rain of Severance)" was a technique he created based on Byakuya Kuchiki's Senbonzakura.
Unfortunately, Natsuro glanced at the captains nearby, Byakuya wasn't among them.
If he were, perhaps he'd recognize the technique when he saw Zandanshi no Ame.
Natsuro wasn't trying to mock him, he simply wanted guidance. After all, since Zandanshi no Ame was inspired by Senbonzakura, maybe there was still room for improvement.
Actually, most of the captain-level figures weren't present, only a few of the more easygoing ones had shown up to observe.
For example: 8th Division Captain Shunsui Kyōraku, 4th Division Captain Retsu Unohana, 10th Division Captain Isshin Shiba and of course, 5th Division Captain Aizen Sōsuke
Most of those attending were vice-captains; some divisions hadn't even sent a vice-captain.
Suddenly, Natsuro paused. Wait, is Byakuya Kuchiki a captain yet? He vaguely remembered that the current captain of the 6th Division was Kuchiki Ginrei. So Byakuya hadn't inherited the position yet?
While he was pondering this, the crowd around him had already fallen into stunned silence.
They'd known that someone acknowledged by Aizen must be powerful—but this level of combat, one they couldn't even understand, was far beyond anything they'd expected.
That included Renji, Izuru, and the others.
They had always assumed Natsuro preferred using Kidō and wasn't particularly interested in Zanpakutō techniques. But today, their eyes had been opened…
So his swordsmanship was this powerful?!
Now, perhaps they understood why he barely attended swordsmanship classes. Maybe it was because…
The instructors weren't even as good as Natsuro. So why bother showing up?
Renji, recalling how every time he'd challenged Natsuro, he was effortlessly defeated with just Kidō, clenched his fists and gritted his teeth.
So in his eyes, I was so weak… I couldn't even force him to draw his Zanpakutō…
Most people present couldn't even comprehend what he had just done, but the captains watching could.
And even though they understood it, they were still shocked. That level of Shunpo, that overwhelming spiritual pressure, those razor-fast slashes…
Each aspect alone would be considered elite.
Now they understood why even Captain Aizen had extended a personal invitation. Even they were starting to feel tempted.
Truthfully, Aizen was surprised too. His previous analysis had concluded that Natsuro was probably quite powerful.
But that wasn't why he had tried to recruit him, what Aizen truly valued was Natsuro's potential.
Now that he had shown a glimpse of his power, Aizen realized that Natsuro's potential might be even more outrageous than he had imagined. It made him feel both pleased, and helpless.
Pleased, because years from now, he might finally have a worthy rival. Helpless, because the boy just seemed... lazy.
This indifferent attitude toward everything reminded Aizen of another genius: Kisuke Urahara. He had been the same way.
Do geniuses all come with strange quirks?
Aizen mused with a chuckle, then led the still-stunned Renji and others away.
Since the invitation had failed this time, he'd wait for the next. And if that didn't work, well, having one more rival wasn't the end of the world.
Meanwhile, over by the ever-popular 11th Division, Ikkaku Madarame and Yumichika Ayasegawa were also watching. They exchanged glances and breathed a sigh of relief.
Thankfully, their captain wasn't interested in recruiting. If that battle maniac had been here, he'd definitely be cackling, calling it "interesting," and charging in to fight Natsuro with his Zanpakutō already drawn.
Back on his end, he'd reached the still-dumbfounded 4th Division officer and asked, "Where do newly accepted 4th Division members collect their shihakushō? And how are dorms assigned?"
"Um… are you sure you want to join our 4th Division?" the sunglasses-wearing officer asked again.
"Absolutely certain," Natsuro replied.
Yasochika Lemura had seen all kinds of things over the years, but he'd never seen someone this powerful insist on joining the 4th Division.
It was… bizarre.
Still, there was no way Iemura was going to reject him. However, he did decide to take Natsuro to meet the captain first, Retsu Unohana had been sitting quietly watching everything.
Soon, Natsuro stood before her—a gentle, serene woman with long black hair braided and draped over her chest.
This is the captain of the 4th Division? Natsuro squinted at her, and for a moment, it was as if he could see a mountain of corpses behind her.
"Captain, this is Natsuro , who just asked to join the 4th Division. You saw what happened," Yasochika reported.
Unohana nodded. "Handle his enrollment like any other. As for his status, the third seat is currently vacant."
She looked at Natsuro, truthfully, she felt he might be trouble, but she had no reason to refuse him.
"Would you be willing to serve as 4th Division's Third Seat Officer?" Unohana asked.
"Does that job come with a lot of responsibilities?" Natsuro asked.
"Not much…" Unohana was momentarily speechless.
"Then I'm fine with it." Natsuro nodded. When he looked at Unohana again, the eerie sensation from before had vanished, almost as if it had been an illusion.
But he knew it wasn't a hallucination. Retsu Unohana, captain of the 4th Division, was definitely not simple.
Yasochika, still standing nearby, was stunned.
Is this the first time someone has become Third Seat the moment they joined?
He'd worked for so long and was still only Seventh Seat…
Still, he didn't feel jealous, Natsuro's performance had clearly earned that rank.
In fact, Iemura began thinking… Next time someone tries to bully a 4th Division member, maybe I can send Natsuro after them?
He could hurt them and then heal them, again and again.
Let's see who dares mess with the 4th Division after that!
And so, Iemura personally escorted Natsuro away. Even though the seats of a division weren't strictly ranked by spiritual power, there was an unspoken rule. Lower-numbered seats held higher status.
After Natsuro left, Unohana looked at the group of still-agonized students lying on the ground and sighed.
He'd just joined and already caused her this much trouble.
She then drew her Zanpakutō, and it transformed into a massive creature that soared toward the wounded students.
Natsuro might've enjoyed the cutting, but healing was the 4th Division's job.
And with that, he successfully joined the division he had long dreamed of, the perfect place for a professional slacker... The 4th Division.
If you want to read more...
Check out the patreon and get 55 chapters in advance -> SaintXI
Currently on Chapter 472 - Ichigo Kurosaki